Ellen surprises local family during talk show

PEACHTREE CITY -- Tiffany Rowan and her family know the power of a good deed.

After all, it was the kindness of others that kept the family going; seven years ago, she and her husband both lost their jobs two weeks after moving into a new house.

"We lost our cars, house, savings. Everything we owned," Rowan said.

So when she heard talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres was accepting nominations for "Kick in the Kindness Week," Tiffany wanted to nominate the group of people who stepped up to help her family through their hard time.

It took just one late-night phone call for Tiffany to learn how returning that kindness would mean more than she ever imagined.

"I answered my phone and she said something to the effect of 'If you want to talk, this is Ellen' and I just about lost it," Rowan said. "I thought that was the greatest thing ever!"

Ellen surprised the family with seven $1,000 JCPenney gift cards -- one for each of the people that helped them. She also presented them with several bags of groceries and $20,000 cash.

"It was such a shock!" she said. "This was not something that was about us, it was about somebody that we wanted to do something nice for."

"It turned into this huge blessing for us, for which we will be forever and ever grateful."

Tiffany said her family will designate a portion of the $20,000 as their "acts of kindness" fund: money set aside to help anyone in need of a kind deed.